Show Success: A comparison of three riding styles as performed at the United States National Championships from 1986-2008

A thesis submitted to the

Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

In the Department of Geography Of the College of Arts and Sciences

2010

by Katherine Musser

B.A., Cedarville University 2002

Committee Chair: Roger M. Selya, Ph.D.

Abstract The Arabian is considered one of the most beautiful breeds of horses. Valued for its intelligence, strength, endurance and affability, the Arabian, more than any other horse, has contributed its bloodlines to improving horse stock around the globe. In the twenty-first century, the United States boasts more Arabian horses registered than any other country. The United States Arabian National Championships held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is considered the premier Arabian in the world. Standards set by the judges of the United States Arabian National Championships guide breeding and training programs across the United States regarding the type of show horses produced. Using results from the National Championships as the standard, this research investigates the spatial distribution of Arabian horse training emphasis across the United States. Three riding styles (, western and hunter) are used to analyze regional dimensions of horse training and showmanship using ArcMap’s ‘hot spot’ analysis. Concepts from sports geography such as the ‘Affection versus Domination’ tension and ‘Sports Landscapes,’ aid in interpreting the cultural implications of each riding style and the indicators of each style on the horse/handler relationship. This research uncovered regional preferences for each of the riding styles and connects those preferences to cultural perspectives on horses, animals and nature.

Keywords: Arabian horse, Horse Show, Hot Spot Analysis, Sports Geography, Sports Landscapes, Affection, Domination

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Acknowledgements This project could not have been completed without the support of many people. I would like to offer my thanks to those who have enabled my pursuit of this research. First, I would like to thank Dr. Selya for his excellent advice and assistance throughout this project. He has always been there to offer encouragement and clear guidance whenever needed. Every visit to his office left me inspired to pursue my work. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Colleen McTague and Dr. Changjoo Kim, for their willingness to serve on my committee and comment on my thesis. Many of my fellow graduate students offered valuable help and recommendations for this project. I would like to thank Christopher Carr, Benjamin Thomas, Peter Kimosop, and Yu Sun in particular for their assistance. As a commuter from Dayton to Cincinnati, those who provided me with bed and board during the week played a key role in my ability to finish this degree. I would like to give special thanks to Melanie and Elliot Gomaz, Mary Bowersox and Shazia Bee. The hospitality extended by each of these individuals was above and beyond my highest expectations.

I would like to thank my horse trainer of many years, Ann Quinn, for imparting to me a love for the Arabian horse and a concern for the well-being of the animal.

I greatly appreciate the support of family in my endeavors. I wish to thank my sister Kristen who first encouraged me to pursue this study as an attempt to understand the discrepancies in horse training and care techniques that we both observed when we moved from California to Ohio. I thank my sister Holly for all the time we spent together on horseback discussing concepts of horsemanship and sports geography. I’m also grateful to her for helping me with data entry and for her expert advice and assistance as a librarian. I thank my sister Hannah for her tolerance of all the ‘horse’ talk and for believing I could finish. My Mom has been a continual support in my life - always being there to watch me ride and to encourage me. I thank her for listening to my ideas and for proofreading my writing.

My husband deserves special thanks. He has continually backed my graduate work and has always encouraged me and helped me believe in myself. He endured with great equanimity the long hours I invested in this work and our days spent apart because of it. He has always lent a hand whenever needed. I am truly thankful for his unfailing support.

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Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction 1 Statement of Significance and Purpose 3 Chapter Layout 3

Chapter Two: Introduction to the Arabian Horse 5 History of the Arabian horse 6 History of the Arabian horse in the United States 9 Characteristics of the Arabian horse 12 The Arabian show horse 15 Riding Styles 18 Saddle Seat 19 22 Hunter 23

Chapter Three: Introduction to Sports Geography 25 Literature Review 27 Explanations for the lack of equine research in geography 28

Chapter Four: Hypothesis and Methodology 30 Hypotheses 30 Methodology 31

Chapter Five: Data Investigation and Analysis 34 Records 34 Registration Records 34 Show Records 35 Data Limitations 35 Data Organization 37 Data Exploration 38 Registration Records Exploration 38 Show Data Exploration 43 City Data Exploration 48 Data Analysis 50 Hot Spot Analysis 50 Clustering of City Data 50 Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) 51 Specialization Index 56 Comparing Regions of High and Low Specialization 59 Summary of Total Wins and Specialization Hot Spot Analysis 61 Riding Style Preferences 61 Regional Comparisons 65

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Chapter Six: Discussion of Sports Geography and Horsemanship 68 Sports: Seeking the Ideal 68 Affection versus Domination 71 Landscapes as an indicator of the man/nature relationship 71 Concepts of Sports Geography and Equines 72 Dominance and Affection Revisited 73 Dominance and Affection in Training the Horse 74 Dominance and Affection in the Show Ring 75 Horses and Sports Landscapes 78 Saddle Seat Revisited 79 Western Pleasure Revisited 81 Hunter Revisited 83 Riding Style Analysis 83 Comparison of discussion with hot spot analysis 85

Chapter Seven: Results 86

Chapter Eight: Conclusion 88 Hypotheses Revisited 88 Future Research 89

Bibliography 90

Appendix A 94 Appendix B 94 Appendix C 95 Appendix D 96 Appendix E 97 Appendix F 98

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List of Tables and Figures Page Table 1: Comparison of Specialization 59 Frequencies Table 2: Frequency Distributions 60 Table 3: Expected wins for each riding style 62 Figure 1: with Arabian horse 5 Figure 2: Head of an Arabian horse 13 Figure 3: Arabian horse 13 Figure 4: Arabian horse showing on the rail 15 Figure 5: Saddle Seat Arabian 20 Figure 6: Arabian park horse 21 Figure 7: Arabian western horse 23 Figure 8: Arabian hunter horse 24 Figure 9: Distribution of registered 39 Arabians Figure 10: Arabian horses per square mile 40 Figure 11: Arabian horses per capita 41 Figure 12: State participation rate 44 Figure 13: Saddle Seat performance by state 45 Figure 14: Western performance by state 46 Figure 15: Hunter Performance by state 46 Figure 16: Number of wins per state 47 Figure 17: Central Tendency of wins 49 Figure 18: Hot Spot analysis of wins 53 Figure 19: Hot Spot analysis of wins 57 standardized by city population Figure 20: Specialization hot spots 57

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Figure 21: Specialization hot spots 58 standardized by city population Figure 22: Saddle Seat riding hot spot 63 analysis Figure 23: Western riding hot spot analysis 64 Figure 24: Hunter riding hot spot analysis 64 Figure 25: Summarization of the data 66 Figure 26: Park horse as sports landscape 81 Figure 27: Western horse as sports 82 landscape Figure 28: Hunter horse as sports landscape 83

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Glossary of Terms: Action: The horse's way of travel, how he moves his legs and degree of animation. The degree of flexion of the joints of the legs during movement; also reflected in head, neck, and tail carriage. High, snappy action is desired in some classes while easy, ground- covering action is the goal in other classes. Bit. A device placed in the mouth of the horse as a means of control attached to the bridle and the reins or lines. Canter. The English term for a three-beat gait with right and left leads. The canter has the same footfall pattern as the lope. Collection. Gathered together; a state of organized movement; a degree of equilibrium in which the horse's energized response to the aids is characterized by elevated head and neck, rounded back, "dropped croup," engaged hindquarters, and flexed abdominals. The horse remains on the bit, is light and mobile, and is ready to respond to the requests of the trainer. Shortened and raised strides in any gait (walk, trot, gait, canter). The speed is slower because the stride is shortened, the joints of the fore and hind legs are more active, the head and neck are raised, with the head approaching the vertical position. Curb Bit. A bit that uses lever action. Dished. concave, referring to the profile of a head, such as that of an Arabian. Double bridle. Bridle consisting of two separate headstalls and bits. The snaffle bit (bradoon) is very small. Flat. Class without jumping. Gait. A specific pattern of foot movements such as the walk, trot, and canter. Hand. Four inches of height on a horse. Horses are measured from the highest point of the withers to the ground in units called hands. 14.2 means (14 hands x 4 inches) + 2 inches, which is 56 inches + 2 inches = 58 inches. Hand Gallop. A three beat gait like the canter except faster and more ground covering.

Hunter. A type of horse, not a breed, which is suitable for field hunting or show hunting.

Impulsion. The energy and thrust forward characterized by a forward reaching rather than a backward pushing motion. Jog. A slow Western trot. Lope. A three-beat gait: (1) an initiating hind leg; (2) a diagonal pair including the leading hind leg and the diagonal foreleg; and (3) the leading foreleg. Also, to canter slowly.

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Performance horse. A horse especially accomplished in showing, jumping, and . Pelham Bit. A bit used for riding a horse with elements of both a snaffle bit and a curb bit. Saddle Seat. An English style of riding a horse like hunter or dressage, but a uniquely American style of riding that involves lots of animation, high head carriage, and a lot of action. Seat. A rider's seat is a natural aid and refers to their position in the saddle and how effectively they use their balance and weight as an aid to cue the horse. Snaffle Bit. A common bit used in English riding, broken in the middle with two rings on either side. Sport horse. A or crossbred horse suitable for dressage, jumping, , or endurance. Tack. Equipment used on a horse (brushes, blankets, saddle, , bridle, etc.). Trot. A two beat gait of the horse. Faster than the walk and slower than the canter. Under Saddle. A horse performing with tack and being ridden by a rider. Walk. A four-beat flat-footed gait. Western. Referring to riding with Western tack and attire.

Sources: Horse Glossary Online. http://www.gaitedhorses.net/Articles/HorseGlossary.html Horse Terms Glossary. http://www.angelfire.com/ga/GeneS/glossary.html Wow Horses. http://www.wowhorses.com/horse-terms.html

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Chapter One: Introduction

In 2007, I began working as a trainer at an Arabian horse farm in Ohio. I

exercised horses and readied the animals for performance in the show ring. My past

experience with showing horses in California prepared me well for my employment at the

horse farm with one notable exception. In California I showed in the western and hunter

style of riding at Class A and Regional shows. I watched saddle seat classes, but neither I

nor anyone I knew participated in those classes. The saddle seat classes seemed of

minimal importance to me or my associates. The owner of the stable in Ohio asked about

my willingness to learn saddle seat. Ready for a new challenge, I agreed to give the riding style a try. I soon discovered that my employer considered saddle seat the pinnacle of horse and rider achievement. Young horses beginning their training were first considered for saddle seat. If the horses failed to pass the requirements for saddle seat,

they were trained for western pleasure or hunter pleasure. Both the specialization of each

individual horse and the emphasis on saddle seat conflicted with my past perceptions of

Arabian horse training and showing. I found similar training emphases with the

horsemen I encountered at the local shows in Ohio. From my perspective, the fascination

with saddle seat and the specialization I witnessed could be tied to a presumably

subconscious approach to horsemanship – an approach that emphasized winning over

well-being and showmanship over partnership. I saw horses never allowed to move free

of restraints, but receiving continual encouragement to produce more ‘motion’ through

training methods that produced stress and anxiety in the horse. It must be noted that it

was with a strong bias against saddle seat that I began my research for this paper. In all

my thirteen years of riding, training and showing horses in California I did not witness as

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many injuries, cases of sickness, atrociously dirty and dark living conditions, and so

much anger and distress in the horses as I witnessed in my short time of employment at

the Arabian horse farm in Ohio (September of 2007 to January of 2009). I remember my

shock upon opening a stall at the farm and finding a manure encrusted bag of bones. The

poor mare had not been out of her stall for five years. The local humane society’s blasé´ response indicated that show barns commonly stall horses for extensive periods of time.

I soon discovered my definition of horse abuse differed considerably from everyone around me - including members of the local Arabian Horse Association (AHA), the local humane society, local horsemen and women and the local populace in general. In

California, the humane society confiscated a horse when the owners failed to clean its stall for six months. I quit my job at the farm after the stalls had not been cleaned in over a year. Not every barn I visited in Ohio exhibited such deplorable conditions (many are

quite well kept), but the general attitude I witnessed toward horses, and the acceptance of

abuse that I saw darkened my opinion of showing and of showing saddle seat in

particular. I have since spoken with trainers of saddle seat whose ideas and methods I

believe I can accept, and so my personal antipathy towards the style has mellowed

significantly. As I write this paper I am open to the idea that saddle seat can be performed

in a humane manner.

My experiences created questions for me concerning humankind’s relationship to

horses, questions of how the riding styles I am familiar with relate to each other, and

questions concerning the regional aspects of the riding styles popularity and what

implications such popularity might have on the broader, regional dimensions of how

people view nature, animals and horses.

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My research led me to visit the Arabian Horse National Championships in Tulsa,

Oklahoma in the fall of 2008. I was also fortunate to attend several seminars on the saddle seat, western and hunter riding styles at the Equine Affaire in Columbus, Ohio in

April of 2009.

Statement of Significance and Purpose

This paper is about horses, but it is also about people. It is about how people choose to handle their horses and how people view their relationship with a creature that is completely dependent upon the goodwill and skill of a caretaker. Focusing on the human/horse relationship reveals important aspects of how humankind views and interacts with the whole of nature and the environment.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the regional dimensions of riding style preferences and to infer what the regional preference might imply about an area’s attitude toward training horses and the human/horse relationship.

Chapter Layout

Chapter one introduced this research and the significance of the research. Chapter two offers a history of the Arabian horse from the beginning of the breed in the Near East to the current situation of the Arabian horse in the United States, and a characterization of the Arabian horse. Chapter three introduces sports geography and offers a literature review of the horse industry as covered in geography literature. Chapter four states the hypotheses that this research will test and the means of investigating the hypotheses.

Chapter five provides an exploration and analysis of the data provided by the Arabian

Horse Association. Chapter six opens a discussion of the significance of the results given

3 in chapter five based upon inductive reasoning from concepts found in the sports geography literature. Chapter seven revisits the hypotheses presented in chapter four in light of the results of chapter five and discussion of chapter six. Chapter eight synthesizes the results with the hypotheses presented in Chapter four and offers ideas for future research.

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Chapter Two: Introduction to the Arabian Horse And God took a handful of South wind and from it formed a horse, saying: "I create thee, Oh Arabian. To thy forelock, I bind Victory in battle. On thy back, I set a rich spoil And a Treasure in thy loins. I establish thee as one of the Glories of the Earth... I give thee flight without wings." -- from Ancient Bedouin Legend (Byford, et al. Origination of the Arabian Breed)

Figure 1: Bedouin with Arabian horse. Photo taken from www.4thringroad.com

Beauty, endurance, stamina, intelligence and friendship –literature on Arabian horses commonly uses such descriptions. “Rightly so,” shall say any Arabian horse owner. The Arabian horse, more than any other horse breed, distinguishes itself across the globe with these characteristics. Tradition attributes the particular talents and exquisite beauty of the Arabian to its romantic history.

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History of the Arabian horse One might compare uncovering the history of the Arabian horse to researching significant religious figures or heroes of old. Facts become obscured by legend and lore surrounding the object of admiration. Indeed, sentiment toward the Arabian horse often borders on reverence. This is the horse of kings, prophets and priests of old. Mythology would say that man and horse originated simultaneously and that breeders of Arabians can trace their heritage from Adam through Ishmael, Solomon and Mohammed

(Hausman, 2003, p. 4). Bedouin tradition states that Arabian horses bore the Ark of the

Covenant from ancient Judah to Ethiopia (Hausman, 2003, p.5). Given the passion enveloping this horse, Hendricks states that:

In writing of horse breeds there is no ground so hazardous as one treads when speaking of origins of the Arabian horse. Many avid lovers of the beautiful Arab would almost rather the breed had no earthly lineage whatsoever-hesitating to admit to parentage any less mysterious than the very wind itself (Hendricks, 2007, p. 37).

The history uncovered by modern research does little to diminish the marvel of the Arabian. Even the plain facts can leave one with a sense of beauty and inspiration indicative of the Bedouin’s firelight tales.

Archeological studies conducted in the 1990s indicate that Arabians originated with the Arab peoples of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey instead of the fabled Arabian

Peninsula (Hendricks, 2007, p. 40). The rainfall and climate of the northern Fertile

Crescent created an environment suitable for horses. Most researchers agree that

Arabians first appeared in Mesopotamia around 3,500 B.C. (Hendricks, 2007, p. 41;

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Arabian Horse Association (AHA History and Heritage; Schofler, 2006, p. 3). The

Arabian Horse Association History and Heritage webpage notes that the Arabian:

…assumed the role of king-maker in the east, including the valley of the Nile and beyond, changing human history and the face of the world…the empires of the Hurrians, Hitties, Kassites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians and others rose and fell under his thundering hooves.

The horse facilitated warfare and travel and also quickened communication.

Drawings in Egyptian temples indicate that the horses from earliest times boasted distinguishing characteristics such as the delicate dished face and strong short back that currently mark the breed.

Shortly before the time of Mohammed, began breeding horses in the desert. The harsh desert conditions and work demands placed upon Arabians in the desert contributed to forming many of the breed’s quality characteristics. Only the hardiest of the horses survived to pass on their lineage (AHA History and Heritage,

2010). Schofler (2006) tells of a visitor to the desert in the early twentieth century who observed an Arabian mare carrying her rider and three hundred pounds of equipment in one hundred thirty-five degree weather without showing fatigue. Arabians gained stamina in the desert which to this day sets them apart as the premier endurance horse

(AHA, History and Heritage, 2010). In the desert, the Arabian became the prize possession of the Bedouin. Horses were valued so highly that they “slept in tents with their masters and mistresses, and they ate from their bowls” (Hausman, 2003, p. 7). The breed’s early connection with humans endowed the horses with a unique bonding ability and high intelligence (AHA, History and Heritage, 2010). Owners of Arabians continually remark upon these particular qualities. Schofler wrote of his old show horse:

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And then I look at his face and focused on his eyes. And, just as he has done for me for over twenty-four years and Arabians have done for others for thousands of years, he draws me into his soul, and I see just how beautiful he still is (Schofler, 2006, p. xiii).

Many owners have experienced this draw into the horses’ soul and have

encountered a unique friendship and peace. Perhaps this quality more than any other

lends itself to the fairy-tale aspect of the horse which is cited by so many (Schofler, 2006,

p. 2; Hausman, 2003, p. 9; Draper, 2006, p. 22). The loyalty and friendship of the

Arabian won the heart of the prophet Mohammed. Legend tells that Mohammed tested the loyalty of his war mares by depriving his horses of water. Once the animals became crazed with thirst he released them to drink. As the mares ran to water Mohammad blew

the battle trumpet. Five of the mares turned from the stampede and came to

Mohammed’s side ready for action. According to tradition, these five mares became the

founding mares of Mohammad’s breeding stock (Hausman, 2003, p. 7). The prophet

instructed his followers to treat their horses with care. Those who followed his

instructions would be granted reward in heaven and forgiveness of sins (Hausman, 2003,

p. 7). Allah demanded that his war horses remain pure - with no mixture from foreign horses (AHA, History and Heritage, 2010). The Arabian Horse Association notes that

“Mohammed was instrumental in spreading the Arabian’s influence around the world”

(AHA History and Heritage, 2010). In the early twenty-first century, many followers of

Mohammed still obey the mandate to care for the prophet’s horses, and they view

Arabians as an integral part of Islamic and Arab culture and history (Hendricks, 2007, p.

42).

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The careful Bedouin breeding practices and harsh desert environment contributed

to making the “drinker of the wind and… dancer of fire” the world’s most influential

horse breed (Hausman, 2003, p. 4). Hendricks (2007) states, “so universal is this breed

that it is hardly possible to speak of any horse breed without referencing the Arabian.”

Throughout the world, horsemen and women have improved upon native horse breeds by

crossing them with Arabians. Esteemed breeds such as the , Andalusian

and Quarter Horse were born from such a mixture. Although some debate particular

points of the breed’s history, Hendricks notes several indisputable facts concerning

Arabians:

…The Arab is one of the oldest pure breeds in the world; it is the most influential breed, having been used to improve nearly every other horse breed; it is the most widespread horse on earth, with breed societies in nearly every country; it is one of the most beautiful and elegant of all horses (Hendricks, 2007, p. 43).

History of the Arabian horse in the United States The first Arabian horses were imported into the United States in 1725 from the

Middle East (Burns, 2000, p. 183). In spite of this early introduction to the Western

Hemisphere, the Arabian initially failed to become strongly established in America even though men such as loved their Arabian horses (Burns, 2000, p.

183). It is reputed that the Civil War decimated a small breeding program which existed

in the first half the nineteenth century (AHA History and Heritage, 2010). Fortunately,

soon after the Civil War, the Sultan of Turkey gifted General Ulysses S. Grant with two

Arabian (Burns, 2000, p. 183). In 1893, Turkey chose to display forty-five

Arabian Horses in the World Fair. Two of these horses became the number one

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and number two founding horses of the Arabian Stud Book of America (Schofler, 2006,

p. 22).

The late nineteenth century imports sparked interest in the Arabian, and in 1906

Homer Davenport1 traveled to Turkey specifically to purchase horses. His efforts were encouraged by a horseman of particular note – the president of the United States,

Theodore Roosevelt (Harris, 1950, p. 1). The horses brought home by Davenport quickened the enthusiasm of breeders and led to the founding of the Arabian Stud Book of America in 1908 (Harris, 1950, p. 1). There were two purposes for the Arabian stud book: 1) to promote the interest of the horse, and 2) to encourage the importation of new blood (Harris, 1950, p. 3). The Arabian Stud book of America eventually became the

Arabian Horse Registry of America.

In 1950, another organization began registering Arabian Horses in the United

States in order to promote horse shows– the International Arabian Horse Association

(IAHA). This association formed guidelines for horse shows and rewards for performance excellence (Arabian Horse Legacy, 2010). In 1966, the IAHA hosted the first Arabian Horse National Championships. From the 1960s, the popularity of the

Arabian grew so that both organizations reached their peak registrations in the 1980s.

After the 1980s, the Arabian industry experienced a decline in registered horses.

Donna Schmidt, a reporter for the Colorado Business Magazine, blamed this decline on mismanagement; particularly the mismanagement of Michael Brown, who was appointed to the office of Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse

1 Homer Davenport (1867-1912), a native of Silverton, , was an internationally renowned cartoonist and a newspaper artist for . His cartoon depicting and was considered one of the determining factors in Roosevelt’s election to president. 10

Association in 1991 (Schmidt, 2006, p. 20). Michael Brown admirably attempted to

purify the ethics of the show ring, but in so doing practiced an aggressive style of politics

(Nolan, 2005, p. 1). He attacked one of the breed’s top trainers by accusing the trainer of ordering plastic surgery for his horses – an accusation the trainer denied (Nolan, 2005, p.

1). In pursuing the controversy, Brown actively engaged in several lawsuits which resulted in severe financial damages to the IAHA (Schmidt, 2006, p. 20). The mismanagement of financial funds for the lawsuits led to Michael Brown’s resignation in

2001 and to the combining of the International Arabian Horse Association with the

American Horses Registry of America in 2003. These combined organizations created the Arabian Horse Association. The Arabian Horse Association received national scrutiny from the United States news media when Brown, then appointed to the Federal

Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), botched the recovery efforts of Hurricane

Katrina (Lipton, 2005, p. 1).

As I write this paper, the Arabian Horse Association, approved by the World

Arabian Horse Organization in 2008, keeps registration records and sets the rules for breeding, pedigree and shows (Purebred Arabian Trust, 2010). The association remains strong in spite of the turbulent 1990s. In 2006, Schmidt reported that the association prospers in spite of difficulties as it adopts new strategies to create member opportunities and broadens its horizons beyond the show ring. Although the association fails to register as many horses as it did in its heyday in the 1980s, it still represents over one million registered horses which is, “more than ten percent of all the horses registered in the United States” (Schmidt, 2006, p.20).

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The United States now registers more Arabian horses than any other country

(Hendricks, 2007, p. 43). The world’s leading sires are trained and shown in the United

States (AHA, Data Source, 2010). Schofler calls the United States the Arabian Mecca which now exports horses to Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia (Schofler, 2006, p.

21).

Other Arabian horse organizations of note in the United States include the

Purebred Arabian Trust, and many regional and local organizations. The Purebred

Arabian Trust is a national organization with the purpose of preserving the legacy of the

Arabian horse through art and history. In January of 2010, the Trust opened the El-Mara

Art Galleries at the Kentucky Horse Park in order to promote the Arabian breed

(Purebred Arabian Trust, 2010).

Local and regional Arabian horse organizations and clubs can register with the

Arabian Horse Association in order to be listed in the organization’s database and be included in AHA activities, events and competitions. These organizations promote the

Arabian horse through meetings and events and by hosting local and regional shows

(AHA, Local Open Shows, 2010).

Characteristics of the Arabian horse

Several key qualities distinguish the Arabian horse and cause many to consider it

the most beautiful breed (Draper, 2006, p. 22). The head constitutes the clearest defining

feature of the horse. Even an amateur might pick out its delicate qualities including the

dished nose, wide forehead, small muzzle with flaring nostrils, and large intelligent eyes.

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Figure 2: Head of an Arabian horse. Photo used with permission from Gordon Walters

Other distinguishing characteristics of the Arabian include a long, arched, high set neck, a short strong back, and a high tail (Schofler, 2006, p. 7; Hendricks, 2007, p. 43).

Traditionally, the average Arabian stood at 14.1 to 15.1 hands (one hand equals approximately four inches). Today, taller Arabians are becoming more common

(Schofler, 2006, p. 9). Purebred Arabians may be bay, black, chestnut, gray or roan with varied white markings on the face and legs (Hendricks, 2007, p. 43).

Figure 3: Arabian horse Photo taken from www.freeweb.com

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In addition to purebred Arabian horses, the Arabian Horse Association registers

Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians. Half-Arabians include Arabians crossed with other breeds - usually for a specific performance purpose or to add color to the Arabian look

(Schofler, 2006, p. 13). The Anglo-Arabian “ is a horse consisting of any combination of

Arabian and Thoroughbred lineage, with no more than 75% (sic) nor less than 25% (sic)

Arabian blood” (Anglo-Arabians, 2010). The purpose of the Anglo-Arabian is to create a superior sport horse which combines the intelligence and beauty of the Arabian with the size and athletic abilities of the Thoroughbred. The Arabian Horse Association includes separate classes for Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians in the shows it sponsors. Due to data limitations, this paper will focus on Purebred Arabians.

The Arabian horse show

Visit a horse show and you will find a multitude of competition opportunities.

The general format for a show involves a number of classes in which contestants compete in a riding area before a judge or set of judges. Class divisions may be determined by factors such as riding style, horse type and rider age. The versatility of the Arabian lends itself to a wide range of class choices and riding styles in which one may participate.

Schofler noted, “there is nothing an Arabian can’t do and do well…our shows are more interesting and fun than those of other breeds, certainly for a horseman.” (Schofler, 2006, p. 35 quoting Gary Dearth, AHA officer and 2004 Horseman of the year and several time national champion and reserve champion). The Arabian might participate in saddle seat classes, classes, western classes, dressage classes, classes, working cow

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horse classes, and specialty classes like native costume or side seat and halter just to

name a few.

In performance classes, horses travel along the rail of the arena and judges rank

the horses as the animals move through the gaits in both directions around the arena.

Execution of the gaits varies according to the riding discipline, but always constitutes a

form of the four beat walk, two beat trot and three beat canter. Different performance

classes emphasize different elements of horsemanship. Generally, judges rank the horses

based on attitude, manners, performance, conformation, quality of the animal, presence in

the arena, and the suitability of the horse to the discipline at hand (Schofler, 2006, p.38).

The performance classes can be either pleasure classes or classes. Ideally, the

pleasure classes emphasize the attitude, athletic ability and manners of the horse, whereas the equitation classes emphasize the skills of the rider.

Figure 4: Arabian horse showing in a riding arena along the rail. Photo taken from www.horseartcollection.com

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Schofler notes that Arabian shows “are organized on a type of pyramid”

(Schofler, 2006, p. 29). At the pyramid base are the schooling shows that occur at local

stables and are often unsanctioned by any organization. Moving up from there, the

Arabian Community Show is designed and sanctioned by the Arabian Horse Association as an affordable venue for the novice to practice and emphasizes family and fun

(Schofler, 2006, p. 29). Next on the pyramid one finds Class C, Class B and Class A shows with Class A as the highest ranking and Class C the lowest ranking. Usually local clubs organize these shows. The U.S. Equestrian Federation, as well as the Arabian

Horse Association, recognizes these shows (Schofler, 2006, p. 29). Prize money, number of classes, and specific divisions play a part in determining a show’s Class ranking

(Obenland 1993, p. 166). Class A shows generally attract stiffer competition with higher costs and a wider range of class choices. These shows can run from one to five days with as many as five hundred horses participating (Schofler, 2006, p. 30). A show can hold several rankings. For instance, a show might rank a Class C for Half-Arabians, but a

Class B for Purebred Arabians based upon the classes offered for the Half-Arabian and

Arabian divisions.

If a horse performs well at a Class A or Class B show, it may qualify to perform at a regional show. The Arabian Horse Association divides the United States and Canada into eighteen regions (See Appendix, A). These regions generally are comprised of several states. A horse must place a first or a second at a Class A or a Class B show to qualify for the regional championships. The horse may only show at the regional show in which it qualified at the Class A or B show. For instance, a horse qualifying in Region 5 may not show at the Region 2 championships (Obenland 1993, p. 123). The regional

16 show can last from one to ten days and may demand the services of several judges to jointly judge the various classes (Schofler, 2006, p. 31; Obenland 1993, p.123). At regionals, the judges award the top five contestants of each class and then bestow the title of Regional Reserve Champion and Regional Champion upon the top two horses for each class. If a horse places in the top five of a regional show, it qualifies to compete on the national level2.

There are four national shows at which qualifying horses may compete annually:

Canadian Nationals in Regina, Saskatchewan; Youth Nationals in Albuquerque, New

Mexico; Sport Horse National Championships in Boise, Idaho; and the United States

National Championships. Originally the United States National Championships varied locations between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Louisville, Kentucky. Beginning in

2008, The Arabian Horse Association permanently holds the U.S. National

Championships in Tulsa Oklahoma (Schofler, 2006, p. 31). Participation in each national event is a considerable honor, but the U.S. Nationals is the oldest national event (begun in

1966) and still holds the greatest prestige of these championship shows. Because of the honor associated with this particular show, and because of its current and historical position in defining the top horses and performance standards of the breed, this research will focus on the U.S. Arabian National Championships3.

At the U.S. Nationals, horsemen and women ride in a number of qualifying preliminary classes. Each class eliminates horses until only twenty or so horses remain.

2 It is also possible to qualify for competition on the National level by accumulating points at lower level shows. This is a far more difficult method of qualifying and is uncommon. See Schofler page 31. 3 The highest honor a show horse can reach in a year is to win championships at Scottsdale (the most prestigious non-national show in the United States), Canadian Nationals and U.S. Nationals. This is sometimes called the Triple Crown. Triple Crown wins are extremely rare and three way winners are highly prized. See Obenland page 125. 17

From the last twenty horses, a group of judges selects the top ten horses. From the top

ten horses, the judges then choose the United States Reserve Champion and the United

States National Champion (Obenland 1993, p. 125).

The Riding Styles Equitation and pleasure performance classes may be divided into three distinct

sections including saddle seat, hunter seat and western (Burt, 1990, p. 150). Each of

these styles represents a unique history, and each places distinct requirements on the

horse’s athletic ability and performance. In the early days of showing, a single horse

might perform in each of these sections; but in the past few decades the shift has been

toward specialization (Burt, 1990, p. 122). Breeders currently tend to focus on producing

horses for a particular style and to fit a certain frame. Judges influence the evolution of

the breed in how they judge the horses and in what they choose to encourage the breeders

to produce (Burt, 1990, p. 122). The evolution of the breed, once determined by its value as a prized possession of the desert, now depends heavily on the influence breeders receive from the show ring judges who are guided by the standards of the Arabian Horse

Association (Burt, 1990, p. xv).

This research will focus on the above mentioned riding styles for two primary reasons: first, the great diversity of classes and show styles available for the Arabian horse demands that the researcher narrow the study topic; second, the arena performance

classes offer an ideal choice for analysis because of the similarities and differences

between the classes. Contestants show each section in a similar manner, but each style

possesses a distinct history and character that paints a unique picture of the horse and

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rider relationship and communicates its own story. The next three sections of this paper

will offer an outline of the saddle seat, western and hunter riding styles.

Saddle Seat

Of the performance classes, saddle seat has become the most popular and the most

prestigious (Obenland 1991, p. 1). The excitement created in the saddle seat classes

rushes through horse, rider and audience. Energy, ambition and attitude pulsate through

the horse. This style reflects back to the days of the American southern plantation when

wealthy landowners would ride in the saddle seat style to survey their land (National

Show Horse Registry, 2010).

Saddle seat horses perform in an uphill carriage with a high placed head and

arched neck. They move with considerable strength and elegance as they push hard into

the arena floor with their hind feet in order to create a high-stepping front. Schofler

states:

These horses move as they do in part because of conformation, in part natural gaits, and in part training. They share with one another an incredible vigor, vibrancy and ambition. The best ones are sensitive and powerful, yet move with ease and relaxation (Schofler, 2006, p. 44).

The saddle seat style divides into three categories: country , english pleasure and park. These categories can be distinguished by the amount of action required by the horse in each division. Action includes the evaluation of the horse’s knees, animation, energy, strength, balance, collection and attitude (Schofler, 2006, p.

45). Country english pleasure displays the least amount of action, with more being

19 desired from the english pleasure horse and the greatest amount of action demonstrated by the park horse.

Figure 5: Arabian horse performing in the saddle seat riding style Photo Taken from www.arabhorse.com

The movement that saddle seat requires demands top physical form. The park horse in particular “must be very strong, very fit, and be very well cared for to perform at the expected level” (Schofler, 2006, p. 47). The physical obligations of park limit the number of horses which can show in this division. Very few horses possess the strength and talent to make it through the park classes (Obenland 1991, p. 5).

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Figure 6: Arabian park horse Photo Taken from www.smokeymountainparkarabians.com

In the show ring, saddle seat horses perform at the walk, trot, strong trot, canter and hand gallop. The trot and strong trot with the high knee action dominate the saddle seat classes and often bring cheers and applause from the audience. Burt notes two objectives of the saddle seat show horse:

…(1)To create a pretty picture of balance and cadence with the hocks well under, and (2) to obtain enough speed and proper elevation without losing form, and enough speed and animation to give the appearance of being a pleasure to ride (Burt, 1990, p. 83).

The saddle seat discipline requires a formal, stylish-appearing wardrobe.

Saddle seat riders wear a coat with a lapel and conservative colors. When riders compete after six o’clock in the evening, contestants must don top hats and tails. The specific requirements for each category vary and contestants must pay careful attention to the rules of attire as details and fashions may change.

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Horses wear a saddle seat saddle which shifts the weight of the rider away from the shoulders allowing for maximum front movement. This style uses a double bridle with both a snaffle bit and a curb bit.

Western Pleasure

The western style harkens back to the days of the old west when cowboys freely roamed the wide open range. The cowboy depended on his horse, and the two worked together as a team to make a living and survive. This unity of purpose contributes to defining the characteristic that Judge Burt deems the most critical in a western pleasure horse - attitude. He states:

Attitude in the [western] pleasure division is the most desired characteristic. It goes beyond the connotation of manners because although manners can be taught, attitude is an inherent factor that is easily distinguished but hard to put your fingure on. Attitude, whether good or bad, is seen throughout an entire performance. (Burt, 1990, p. 117)

The western horse moves in a flat manner compared to its saddle seat counterpart.

Western horses move slowly, smoothly and methodically around the arena. They perform at the walk, jog and lope. The slow speed and collection required at the jog and lope distinguishes the western gaits from the english style trot and canter. The ideal western horse will perform “with perfect poise and ideal body disposition, which is evident by his responsiveness and cooperation” (Burt, 1990, p. 122).

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Figure 7: Arabian western pleasure horse Photo used with permission from Anne Quinn

Western attire includes a long sleeve shirt, cowboy hat, chaps, belt buckle and

western boots. Horses wear the traditional western saddle and bridle with a curbed bit.

Hunter

Hunt seat riding originates from the fox hunts of the English countryside.

Although horses in the rail hunt seat class need not jump over bramble and brush to catch

the fox, they should move and appear as if they could take up the chase in an instant. The

hunt seat horse should be, “a bold, athletic horse that responds willingly and obediently to

its rider” (Burt, 1990, p. 181). Hunt seat horses move with long low strides that cover the

ground in a smooth relaxed manner. The point is to move quickly across the ground

while at the same time conserving energy for the chase. The horses usually show at the

walk, trot, canter and hand gallop. Riders wear a dark coat, helmet, breeches and high

23 black boots. Horses wear a hunt seat saddle. The bridle can be a double bridle, pelham or snaffle.

Figure 8: Arabian hunter horse Photo used with permission from Gordon Walters

The next portion of this paper will introduce sports geography and the contribution sports geography can make in understanding horse shows and horsemanship.

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Chapter Three: Introduction to Sports Geography

The Journal of Geography published the first article addressing Sports Geography

in 1963 - E.B. Shaw’s “Geography of Baseball” (Gaile, 1989, p. 398). In 1969, the influence of John Rooney at the University of Oklahoma established Sports Geography as a recognized field of study (Gaile, 1989, p. 398). Geographers have subsequently investigated numerous and diverse sports topics such as the definition of sports

(Osterhoudt, 1973), the growth and globalization of sports (Mangan, 1986; Bale, 1994,), the regional dimensions of sports (Jokl, 1964; Rooney 1975; Bale, 1982), the effect of sports on public welfare (Bale, 1986; Van Ingen, 2003) and the effect of sports on landscape and human senses (Eichberg, 1998).

Two observations continually surface within Sports Geography literature. First, the field constitutes a relatively small subfield of geography with geographers contributing only a minimal amount of material to the academic literature on sports.

Maguire and Bale comment on the fact that most research conducted in sports belongs to fields outside of geography such as history, sociology and anthropology (Bale, 2003, 4;

Maguire, 1995, p.8). According to Bale, the difficulty inherent in studies on sports and

Sports Geography is the wide dispersion of research making a cohesive analysis of the topic difficult (Bale, 2003, p. 4). Publications such as John Bales’ Sports Geography in

1989 and again in 2003 have helped alleviate some of this difficulty, but the small number of geographers conducting studies in sports, and the minimal recognition afforded the subfield by geographers at large remains a challenge for sports geographers

(Bale, 2003, p.1; Robinson 1996; Maguire, 1995, p. 8).

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John offers several cogent reasons for geographers to study sports. He argues that sports provide key insights into society’s political, social and economic conditions. He claims that this marginal working of human society may offer one of the clearest pictures of the human condition (Bale, 2003, p. 2). The spatial nature of the arrangement of sports and the significant affect of sports on place and peoples’ perception of place should provoke the geographer’s interest (Bale, 2003, p. 2).

The second problem found in the Sports Geography literature (and probably affecting the first problem) is an issue of interpretation. The majority of the history of

Sports Geography is rooted in an empiricist, positivist philosophy that produced description without giving an explanation for the facts found. In 1985, Ley criticized the

Sports Geography field, claiming that the researchers:

Exemplify a research style where description takes precedence over interpretation. Maps of the spatial origins of professional sports players invite interpretive accounts of the places and practices that produced such ‘social facts’ (Ley, 1985, p. 415).

Sports Geographers have sought to rectify this problem by addressing issues of interpretation (Robinson, 1996, p. 133). Maguire suggests that geographers draw from diverse fields of social science such as sociology and history to aid in producing

‘theoretical insights’ and interpretation (Maguire, 1995, p. 11).

Despite interpretive attempts, Sports Geography remains a marginal discipline in geography research. The lack of attention, while regrettable, leaves an open door for future research as scholars attempt to ascertain the depths of human nature revealed through sports.

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Literature Review If one considers sports a neglected topic of study in the geography field, then the horse industry constitutes a neglected subject in a neglected field. Only a handful of geographers researched the horse industry and only one of them addressed horse shows.

Colin Lewis and Mary McCarthy published the earliest geographer’s horse industry analysis in 1977. They purposed to analyze: 1) the regional distribution of various breeding industries in Ireland, and 2) the health of those breeding programs. For the study they focused on four breeds of horses: the Thoroughbred, the Draft Horse, the

Connemara pony and half-breeds (Lewis and McCarthy, 1975, p. 88). The research results identified the distinct regional strengths of each breeding industry as concerning its productivity and economic activity. While the research serves as a rare insight into the horse industry, it fails to offer any explanation for the regional distributions uncovered or any interpretive insights which might explain the preferences for different breeds in different regions.

In 1992, Gunter provided the first and only article by a geographer on a horse show. In his article “The Growth of the Tennessee Walking Horse National

Celebration,” Gunter recounts the growth of the Tennessee Walking Horse National

Championship from its inception in 1939 to the year 1989. The research delineates the increasing regional influence of the show over time beginning with participants of southern origin and then spreading to include horses from across the United States. In addition to the growing regional dimensions of the sport, Gunter delineates the increased participation numbers and monetary rewards of the winners. Like Lewis and McCarthy,

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Gunter offers a clear description of the regional aspects of his subject, but he fails to offer

any interpretative insights.

Guy M. Robinson (1996) from the United Kingdom studied the breeding of

thoroughbred horses in Australia’s Hunter Valley, New South Wales. His research

focused primarily on the economic aspects of the breeding industry and its ties with

agricultural activities and globalization. He analyzed the international and domestic

aspects of capital movement from agricultural industries and other industries to the horse

breeders and the resulting effects on Australia’s economy (Robinson, 1996, p.133).

Robinson wanted to know if the equine industry attracted overseas capital investments in

Australia. He found that the equine industry did play a role in local and international

markets but it failed to attract substantial overseas capital. He did find that

competition between breeders to control the highest quality bloodlines supported export

sales to Southeast Asian countries and South Africa (Robinson, 1996, p. 146). According

to Robinson, the complex nature of the horse industry and the benefits of including the

racing industry as part of a means of economic diversification in Australia call for further

investigation of the Australian equine industry (Robinson, 1996, p.146).

Other studies conducted by sociologists and economists on the horse industry address topics such as the role of equine sports in society (De Moubray, 1985; Vamplew

1989); the use of horses in hunting (Lewis, 1975; Winter et al. 1993); legal aspects of keeping horses (Turrell-Clark 1981); and issues of land use and keeping horses in the

United States (Burnett and Conklin 1982).

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Explanations for the lack of Equine Research in Geography

I would like to propose that there are two factors contributing to the lack of

scholarly research on horse shows. The first factor concerns the dearth of common

participation in horse shows, and the second point concerns the discounted economic

benefits of horse shows.

Compared to popular team sports fewer people attend horse shows. The expenses of keeping and showing a horse can account for participation discrepancies between horse shows and popular team sports. For instance, fewer people may afford to keep a horse than those who may afford to enroll their children in little league soccer. The

financial and space requirements of horses contribute to a greater lack of general knowledge concerning horsemanship as compared to other popular sports such as baseball, soccer, basketball or football. Public education provides opportunities for children to play in team sports from an early age, but schools do not generally teach animal husbandry or equine skills. Thus, the majority of children grow up without spending significant time with horses. A paucity of knowledge, costly participation, and the resulting limited attendance at horse shows has obscured the importance of studying horse shows as a critical portrayal of humankind’s relationship to leisure activities, sports, animals and nature. Chapter six of this paper will delve further into the value of horse shows as a means to understand the above relationships.

One must consider that the potential economic affect of horse shows pales in comparison to national professional sports events. The Arabian Horse U.S. Nationals claimed to generate about $18.2 million in 2008 for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma (AHA,

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National Show Results, compared to $333 million reported for the 2010 Super Bowl

(National Football League, 2010). However, while scholars have shown the economic

benefits of high profile sporting events such as the Super Bowl to be highly exaggerated

(Noll, 1997; Coates, 2003), the local economic benefits of smaller sporting events, such

as horse shows, remains unknown.

This paper focuses on horse shows in an attempt to uncover regional preferences

for riding styles and then discusses the potential cultural importance of those preferences

from concepts found in the sports geography literature. The purpose of this research is to

use horse shows as a means to better understand the condition of humankind as revealed

by the way men and women choose to treat the horse – an animal completely subject to

the goodwill of the caregiver.

Other reasons for studying horse shows might include analyzing the economic

benefits of small scale sporting events, or identifying the people who participate in horse

shows (the income level necessary to participate, the potential indicators of class society

in American culture, or studying higher income society).

The next section of this paper will introduce the hypotheses and methodologies in considering the regional aspects of riding style performance for saddle seat, western and hunter riding styles.

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Chapter Four: Hypothesis and Methodology

This research investigates the regional dimensions of riding style preferences

across the United States. The paper poses the question, “What are the regional

preferences for the saddle seat, western pleasure and hunt seat riding styles in the United

States?” The hypotheses presented below were tested to address the research question.

Hypotheses

H1 There are areas in the United States where one or more of the riding styles is more

popular than the other riding styles.

Rationale: Different regions of the United States possess different values and histories. It

follows that the varying cultures across the United States would be attracted differently to

the unique histories and flavor of each of the riding styles.

H2 There are areas in the United States which tend to specialize in one of the riding

styles (saddle seat, western and hunt seat) to the exclusion of the other two styles of riding.

Rational: If there are regions in the United States where one or more of the riding styles

is more popular than the other riding styles, then one might expect horsemen and women

in that area to focus on that style of riding to the exclusion of the other styles.

Methodology

The United States constitutes the study area of this research. This project

encompasses a large study area due to data limitations. Acquiring data on a smaller area 31

would require either focusing on one small show, the result of which would be of

questionable significance, or it would require amassing data from several small

organizations which may or may not be available or comparable. The Arabian Horse

Association provides comprehensive, relatively consistent records of its national events

making such an event the feasible object of investigation.

Of the four national Arabian shows hosted in the United States and Canada, this

research will focus on the U.S. National Championships for its historic importance as the

first and oldest national Arabian show event, and because of the importance of the show

in setting breed performance standards. Because of its acknowledged position in setting

standards for the Arabian breed, this research will assume that the data analyzed from this

show provides a representative sample of Arabian ownership and riding across the

country.

The three riding styles chosen for analysis (saddle seat, western and hunter) are

each flat performance classes, meaning that they are judged in an arena under saddle

based on the execution of the walk, trot and canter in both directions of the arena. These

are the flat performance classes that have been shown at the United States Nationals

consistently since 1986 (the year the records for this study begin). The unique character

of each of these styles lends them to different tastes and personal preference making a

comparison between them possible.

Both hypotheses will be tested with a ‘hot spot’ analysis using data from the

Arabian Horse Association provided for the United States Arabian National Show results from 1986-2008. To test hypothesis one, the data was entered into ArcMap and a ‘hot spot’ analysis was performed for the show results for saddle seat, western, and hunter.

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To test hypothesis two, a specialization index was calculated based upon the show results

and a ‘hot spot’ analysis was performed using the specialization index.

Chapter five will provide further details on the methods of data collection and

analysis mentioned above. Chapter six of this paper will apply concepts from the sports geography literature to discuss the potential significance of the results of Chapter six for

the horse/handler relationship.

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Chapter Five: Data Investigation and Analysis

Records The Arabian Horse Association provided the following records: 1) annual information on Arabian horses registered from 1986-2008, and, 2) annual show results

for the U.S. National Arabian Horse Championships from 1986-2008.

Registration Records

The registration records were provided in two forms. Before 2003, the Arabian

Horse Registry (AHR) kept the registration records for Arabian horses in one

comprehensive report. This report included information on total numbers of horses and

owners, as well as the number of registered stallions, mares and geldings. The

information on the horses was limited to Purebred horses and did not included data on

Half-Arabians or Anglo-Arabians.

After 2003, the Arabian Horse Association (AHA) assumed responsibility for the

registration records. The AHA details registration information in three separate reports

including one report for the total number of horses registered one report for Half-

Arabians, and one report for Anglo-Arabians. In order to obtain the number of

Purebreds, the Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians were subtracted from the total number

of horses registered.

Due to the lack of information on Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians prior to

2003, this research uses data for Purebred horses only.

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Show Records

The show records include information on: 1) the class number and class name, 2) the number of horses participating in the class, 3) horse placement for first and second place, and then eight placements to complete the top ten placements. Information on the top ten horses included: 1) horse name, 2) exhibitor name, and 3) owner name, city and state. Older records often lack fields of the above information. For instance, until 1996 no record of the rider’s name exists. Many of the older records omit data at various points. Therefore, data from prior to 1986 are not useful for this research.

Data Limitations

The available data pose several limitations. First, the data are limited in scale.

The number of horses registered can be evaluated only on the state level. Second, information on the top ten, reserve and national champions is provided only on the city wide level. It would be beneficial for further studies, and for this research, if information of the contestants’ addresses were included in the record. Such information is unavailable. Third, the information relates only to the owners of the horses. Horses may be trained in locations separate from their owners, but the records provide no indication of such situations.

If it were possible to analyze the spatial information of each horse represented at nationals each year instead of just the top ten, a better sample could be made of riding style preferences and specialization, but no such records are kept. I must assume that the top ten placements provide a reliable sample of general show riding practices.

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Only a few of the years represented indicate the number of horses showing in each class. This creates some difficulty in obtaining an accurate portrayal of the style demography represented by the United States Nationals. The U.S. Nationals offers more saddle seat classes, but more riders can be found in hunter classes. This means that more data exists to represent the saddle seat style than the hunter style.

Although the data pose several restrictions, it provides adequate information to address the proposed research questions. Because this research investigates the riding style specialization and preference of owners, the location of trainers becomes less relevant. Even if a trainer from Arizona works with a horse whose owner lives in the state of Ohio, this research is interested in analyzing the preferences of the Ohio resident in regard to his/her decision to show a horse in a particular style rather than where that owner determines to have the horse trained.

One can tentatively assume that top ten results reflect common riding style preferences. What the top ten results most certainly do demonstrate is the impetus to invest the necessary time and finances in a particular style to succeed. The production of a winner certainly indicates the necessary passion to produce that winner, especially given the time and capital investments involved. The results of the top ten may not necessarily indicate the commonness of the riding style, but they do indicate which riding styles attract the devotion for success.

It would be informative to compare the number of horses represented by each style of riding, but in this analysis each style will be considered as a discrete sample. The results, then, are not dependent upon the sample sizes for the different riding styles.

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Data Organization

The Arabian Horse Association provided hard copies of the reports which were

then entered into Microsoft Excel. The information was entered into two tables: one

compiled for information on the state level, and one compiled for information on the city

level. The cities’ table included nine hundred and eighteen cities which represent the

winning cities of the United States from the year 1986 to the year 2008. The tables for

both cities and states include the total number of wins for each entry as well as the

number of wins for saddle seat, western and hunter respectively. To analyze the historic

evolution of each of the riding styles, the years included were divided into sets of six to

represent three time periods: 1986-1991; 1992-1997; 1998-2003, with the remaining five

years combined for a final period (2004-2008) creating a total of four time periods. This

division of time distinguishes the pre-Arabian Horse Association show seasons from the years after the formation of the Arabian Horse Association.

The tables record a total of three thousand, seven hundred and seventy-four wins.

This includes championship, reserve championship and top ten places for all Purebred

Arabian saddle seat, western and hunt seat flat classes of the United States Arabian

Nationals from 1986 - 2008. No distinction is made between the top placements. The idea is to use the wins as a sample to represent the riding style preferences of the owners.

Even if the wins do not present a representation of riding preferences at large, they indicate the styles for which the owners are willing to make the required financial and time commitment to produce excellence. This research then, will investigate the spatial aspects of Arabian performance at the national show.

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In viewing the data, it was determined that Alaska and Hawaii did not produce

enough wins to be included in this study4. Before analyzing the information for the lower

forty-eight states, some exploratory analysis can provide a context for the data.

Data Exploration

This research will offer a preliminary investigation and visualization of the data

provided by the Arabian Horse Association. The information available at the state level

will be presented before further analysis of the data on a citywide basis. Except where

otherwise indicated, the natural breaks method serves as the classification scheme. This method was adopted to better communicate the data distribution to the reader.

Registration Records Exploration

The population of Arabian horses across the United States provides a beneficial

context for considering the show results of the U.S. National Championships. The

average number of horses registered from 1986-2008 for each state as provided by the

Arabian Horse Association displays the following regional patterns using a quintile

classification method5:

4 Alaska had one win and Hawaii none. 5 The Quintile Method was deemed appropriate for this map for the purpose of ranking the states and because the natural breaks method obscured the rankings of the states due to California’s high Arabian horse population. 38

Figure 9: Average distribution of registered Arabian horses in the United States from 1986-2008

The quintile classification method shows which states fall into the top one-fifth of registered horses, and which states fall into each subsequent fifth of the population distribution. This classification reveals how the states rank in comparison to each other.

The quintile classification was used for this map because the exceptionally high number of horses registered in California obscured the rank of Arabian horses in the other states when the natural breaks classification method was employed. Low population distributions appear clustered in the northeast and central states of Wyoming, South

Dakota and Nebraska. The Southwest boasts a number of highly populated states including California, Arizona, Colorado and Texas. Another cluster of high registration

39

includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio. California registers more horses

than any other state with an average registration of sixty thousand, five hundred fifty-six horses. The state with the next highest registration, Texas, averages annually twenty

three thousand, eight hundred forty-three horses.

Figure nine indicates that the states larger in area tend to record more Arabians.

This observation leads one to question the relationship of the Arabian horse population to land area.

The following map displays the population density of the Arabian horse per square mile of each state and is based upon the average number of horses for each state from 1986-2008 using the natural breaks method of classification6.

Figure 10: Number of Arabian horses per square mile

6 See page 38. 40

Clear regional distinctions again appear in Figure ten. Of particular note are the states on the Eastern Sea Board - Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut and

Massachusetts. These states cannot compete with the larger states in regard to the number of horses their smaller land areas can support, but per square mile they have more horses than most of the western states. Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and

Minnesota remain states of strong Arabian presence, as do California and Washington.

The country east of the Mississippi appears to support more Arabians per square mile than do the western states. This phenomenon could occur due to a higher civilian population in the East and raises the question of the relationship between the number of horses registered and the number of people residing in each state. Figure eleven provides a visualization of the average number of Arabian horses registered from 1986 to 2008 compared to the United States population per capita:

Figure 11: Average number of Arabian horses per capita

41

Although the Eastern United States boasts more Arabians per square mile than the

Western United States, the Western United States registers more horses per capita than

states east of the Mississippi River. Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Vermont can be

distinguished as accommodating more horses per person than neighboring states east of

the Mississippi River. West of the Mississippi River, Oregon, Texas and Louisiana each

show a low ratio of horses to citizens. Besides the previously mentioned anomalies, the

West tends to support more horses-per-state resident than the East.

A comparison of the above three figures leads to the following observations: 1) states that show a high number of registered Arabians include Washington, California,

Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Florida; 2)

California, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island all display a

high proportion of Arabians registered to state area; and 3) Idaho, Montana, Wyoming,

North Dakota and South Dakota exhibit a large proportion of horses per capita. Although

these figures demonstrate state by state registration relationships of the Arabian horse,

they do not portray any spatial relationships of the horses’ show performance.

The information given above may lead to several predictions of the Arabian show

performance. Based on the findings above, one may expect that: 1) the states with high

registration numbers will produce the most winners, 2) the states with high horse to area

ratios might also send many horses to the National Championships based upon the

concentration of horses in those states, and 3) states with high horse to per capita ratios

might produce high participation rates due to the popularity of the horse, but cumulative

wins may remain low. The above observations lead to the expectation that the following

42 states produce many of the top ten winners at the Arabian Horse National

Championships: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Washington,

California, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The next section of this paper will further investigate this prediction.

Show Data Exploration

In considering the show data results on a statewide level, two topics of interest demand consideration: 1) the participation rate of each state at the Arabian Horse

Nationals, and 2) how each state performed in each of the riding styles throughout the history of the U.S. National Championships.

In analyzing the 1952 Olympics, Ernst Jokl provided a formula for determining a nation’s participation rate in certain sports (Jokl, 1964). He gives the formula as follows:

1 = 100 푥 − 푙표푔 푃 � 푛 � 푙표푔

Where P is the number of points earned for each placement achieved (first, second, third), x is the placement of an athlete or team, and n is the number of contestants in the event. First place would receive one hundred points and last place received no points (Bale, 2003, p. 63).

For this study, x = the average number of horses placing in top ten per state, and n

= the number of horses from that state. Because this research does not distinguish

43

between placements in the top ten categories, the points were not included in this

calculation. The figure below shows the participation of each state in the top ten

placements per horse in that state from 1986-2008.

Figure 12: Participation rate in top ten performances at the United States National Championships of each state per Arabian horse registered.

As predicted, the Northwestern states of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North

Dakota and South Dakota produced high participation rates. The New England states,

except for Maine, also portray strong participation. The Northwestern states listed above

demonstrate a strong commitment to Arabian horses both in the number of horses per

residents and the participation rates for the Arabian Horse Nationals. Future research

might further investigate the importance of the Arabian horse to this region of the United

States.

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Of greater concern to the current analysis are the state’s performances at the

United States National Championships. Using the average for each time period in

consideration, the maps below offer a spatial history of how the states performed in each

of the riding styles from 1986-2008.

Figure 13: Saddle seat performance across the United States from 1986-2008

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Figure 14: Western performance across the United States from 1986-2008

Figure 15: Hunter performance across the United States from 1986-2008

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The above figures provide a visual representation of the history of riding

performances for each riding style (saddle seat, western and hunter) in the United States at the United States Arabian National Championships from 1986-2008. If one averages this information, then one can determine the top producing states of Arabian champions as presented in figure sixteen.

Figure 16: Average number of wins for each state from 1986-2008

This map shows that the states of California, Texas and Arizona produce more winning horses than other states. Other large producers include Washington, Colorado,

New Mexico, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida. As

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predicted, the states with high concentrations of Arabian horses obtain a greater number

of top ten placements. If one compares figure twelve with figure sixteen, it then appears

that the majority of the states fall into the average or above average category for either participation or average number of wins. This observation indicates that the top ten placements are evenly distributed given the population of the Arabian horse.

The above exploration of the data on the state level provides background information concerning the distribution of Arabians across the United States and the overall performance of each state at the United States National Championships Show from 1986-2008. The next section of this paper will introduce the data on the city level.

City Data Exploration

To explore the city data, the Excel tables were entered into ArcMap and SPSS.

First, a scatter plot was created of the total number of wins using ArcMap’s graph wizard

in order to identify any outlying values (See Appendix B). From the scatter plot, twenty

cities were identified with more than twenty wins. These cities were removed from the

table and used to create a separate shapefile. Removing these cities caused the total wins

of the cities to follow a more normal distribution (See Appendix C and D). Next,

ArcMap’s Spatial Statistics Tool Box was used to map the central tendency of top ten

contenders.

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Figure 17: Central tendency of wins for the Arabian Horse U.S. Championships

The central tendency of the wins throughout the history of the U.S. Nationals from 1986-2008 remained fairly consistent with a slight move north and east over the years. The central tendencies of the riding style wins appears close to the average central tendency of the Arabian horse population, leading one to believe that horses from across the United States are well represented overall at the United States Championships with a slightly higher representation from the south and east of the country.

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Data Analysis:

Sports geographer John Bale discussed the identification of regional ‘hotbeds’ of

athletic performance and regional production of superior athletes (Bale, 2003, p. 68).

Bale notes the importance of identifying “place-to-place” differences in sports for the

geographer, but noted that such identification has received criticism for a lack of

interpretation (Bale, 2003, p. 83). The following sections of this paper will identify

“place-to-place” differences in sports. Potential interpretive significance of such

identifications are discussed in chapter six. The following sections of this paper will

analyze the city data using a hot spot analysis to determine the spatial patterns of wins

achieved, specialization, and riding preferences. The cities presented in this research

each constitute a city with at least one owner of an Arabian National Champion from

1986-2008. Further statistical tests to buttress the ArcMap results were conducted using

SPSS.

Hot Spot Analysis

Clustering

A cursory survey of the winning cities suggests that they are clustered. A Morans

I test confirms this impression. A Morans I test for spatial autocorrelation was performed for the data using Inverse Distance Weighted and Euclidean distance. The test was performed beginning with a distance (d) of fifty miles and ending with a distance of one thousand miles. The clustering peaked at eight hundred miles with a Z-score of 38.39

and a Morans I of .22.

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The clustering of winning cities appears comparable to population clustering.

However, a bivariate correlation analysis renders a weak correlation between city

population and wins achieved with a Persons Correlation of .146 and a p value of .00.

This correlation may be explained by considering the environment which is necessary in

order to maintain a horse. Keeping horses necessitates a significant amount of space, and

large cities do not commonly provide enough land for horses. Therefore, horse owners

frequently choose to locate in smaller cities on the outskirts of large population centers.

Local Indicators of Spatial Association

Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) can evaluate the local association

of georeferenced data by comparing local (weighted) averages to global averages. The

Getis Ord Gi* is one such local indicator. The Gi* statistic tests the hypothesis that the

sum of all the values at j sites within a radius d is not more or less than one would expect

by chance, given all the values in the entire study area (Longley, 2005, p. 262). A preponderance of high values will result in a positive Gi* statistic and low values will result in a negative Gi* statistic. The low and high averages can be used to identify the existence of ‘hot spots’ in the data (Longley, 2005, p. 262). ArcMap includes a hot spot analysis tool in its Spatial Statistics toolbox which uses the Getis Ord Gi* statistic to identify ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ clusters in a data set. The Hot Spot Analysis with Rendering tool

combines a hot spot analysis with a Z score rendering to create a scheme of graduated

colors symbolizing the standard deviation of each value from the expected mean. It

should be noted here that although the total number of wins in the data set follows a

normal distribution, the saddle seat, western and hunter wins do not. The Central Limit

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Theorem indicates that a parametric test will work with a non-normal distribution

provided the sample is large enough (Moltulsky, 1995, p. 37). The sample sizes for

saddle seat, western and hunter are well beyond the generally agreed upon definition of a

large sample (greater than thirty) with a total of nine hundred eighteen cities and three

thousand, seven hundred and seventy-four wins. The skewed nature of the data will

demand consideration when identifying the distance parameter and the number of

neighbors to include in the hot spot analysis. Generally, a large number of neighbors will

assure the appropriate normality of the statistic (Longley, 2005, p. 263).

ArcMaps hot spot analysis with rendering tool was used to identify winning hot

spots, hot spots of specialization, and hot spots for saddle seat, western and hunter riding.

Several factors were considered in choosing the distance band for the analysis. First, the

skewed distribution of the data demanded a relatively large distance band for the purpose

of attempting to include as many neighbors as possible to achieve the appropriate normality. The desire was to try and include at least thirty neighbors in as many distance bands as possible. Second, the interaction of the points demanded consideration.

Unfortunately, given the data available, it is impossible to model the point interactions.

Therefore, the point interactions were left to the researcher’s estimation of how the points might interact given practical experience with Arabian horse organizations.

Several iterations of the hot spot analysis were performed using various distance bands including eight hundred miles, two hundred miles, one hundred miles and fifty miles. Each of the iterations was compared, and it was determined that a distance band of one hundred miles provided the clearest portrayal of the data. The larger distance bands

obscured too many hot spots, and the distance band of fifty miles did not include as many

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neighbors per point as the one hundred foot distance band and did not provide clearer results (See Appendix, E). In addition to these observations, it seems reasonable that interaction between points might occur at the hundred mile distance band. Although one hundred miles might seem far to travel for a riding lesson or a club meeting, this researcher can think of several instances where such a distance has been traveled for such a purpose.

Using the hot spot analysis with a one hundred mile distance band, the resulting performance hot spots can be noted for the National championships:

Figure 18: Hot Spots of performance at the United States Arabian National Championships

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The hot spot analysis indicates that a significant number of wins for the Arabian

Horse Nationals occur along the West Coast and in the South. The greatest majority of the cold spots occur in the Northeast. Comparing the hot spot analysis with figure sixteen

(state show performance), one finds that in some cases the hotspot analysis obscures the overall state’s performance. The achievements of Michigan, Ohio, Connecticut and New

Jersey become obscured by the lower top ten rankings of the surrounding states. One must consider that four of the twenty top producing cities which were removed from the city hot spot analysis include: Fenton, Michigan; Northville, Michigan; Stockton, New

Jersey and Easton, Connecticut. Removing these cities certainly changed the local averages of the areas in question.

One might note that the majority of hot spots occur around large population centers. Standardizing the total number of wins by population results in a more equal distribution of wins across the United States.

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Figure 19: Total win hot spot analysis standardized by city population.

Figure twenty-two indicates a fairly equal distribution of top ten placements

across the United States with the exception of three notable hot spot clusters – one in

Southern California, one around the Chicago area and one along the Eastern Coast in

New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. The hot spot analysis for total wins indicates an equal advantage across the United States for achieving placement in the top ten at the

Arabian horse United States Nationals. The hot spot analysis results suggest that the majority of cities have produced an average performance given the population distribution across the United States. These results are consistent with the findings on

page forty eight of this paper.

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The next sections of this research will inspect the specialization tendencies across

the United States and will then evaluate the hot spots of performance for saddle seat,

western and hunter.

Specialization Index:

The specialization index of an area can be calculated as follows:

= 1 + 2 + 3 2 2 2 푆퐼 �푃 푃 푃 Where SI is the specialization index, P1 is the percent of athletes in event one, P2

is the percent of athletes in event two, and P3 is the percent of athletes in event three

(Bale, 2003, p. 72).

The percent of athletes performing in the saddle seat, western and hunter riding

styles was calculated as follows:

( 100) = 푅푆푊 ∗ 푃 푇푊 Where ‘RSW’ is the number of riding style wins for saddle seat, western and

hunter respectively, ‘TW’ is the total number of wins achieved in each city, and ‘P’ is the

resulting percentage. For this study P1 is saddle seat, P2 is western and P3 is hunter.

The specialization equation index was calculated for each of the nine hundred eighteen

cities in Microsoft excel. The results were entered into ArcMap where a hot spot analysis

was then performed with the following results:

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Figure 20: Hot Spot analysis of specialization in riding styles across the United States.

This map demonstrates a higher degree of specialization in the eastern states,

particularly in the Northeast and a greater degree of diversification from the west

especially along the West Coast. A comparison between figure eighteen and figure twenty suggests an inverse relationship between areas of high winning performance and specialization. However, given that the density of winning cities in the east is greater, the

question arises whether or not the East Coast appears more specialized because a greater density of towns leads to a wider dispersion of wins achieved and thus a higher specialization index. Figure twenty-one provides a visualization of the specialization

index standardized by city population:

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Figure 21: Specialization index standardized by city population.

The results of the standardized hot spot analysis remain consistent with the un- standardized hot spot analysis with slightly more specialization occurring in the western

United States. Overall, the results of both hot spot analyses indicate that the Northeast tends to specialize more than the Western United States, particularly the Southwest. The next section of this paper will further test this observation by addressing the results of a statistical test to compare frequency distribution of the wins in the Northeast and the

Southwest.

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Comparing Regions of High and Low Specialization:

Two regions were chosen for comparison based upon the hot spot analysis for wins achieved and specialization. One hundred twenty-seven cities were chosen from the

Northeast (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York) based upon their high specialization hot spot z scores and low wins hot spot z scores.

Another one hundred twenty-seven cities were chosen from the Southwest based upon their low specialization z scores and high win z scores in the hot spot analysis. The number one hundred and twenty-seven was a value chosen because it covered the specialized area of the Northeast. The total wins and wins for each riding style was calculated. The sums are given below as well as the percent contribution of each riding style to the total number of wins for each region:

Table 1: Comparison of Northeast and Southwest specialization frequencies:

The percentage results demonstrate a much stronger preference for saddle seat and western in the Northeast and a more balanced approach to the riding styles in the

Southwest. These results suggest that the Northeast specializes in the saddle seat riding style and that, even given the fewer wins per city, these wins will tend to be in the saddle seat riding category. These numbers indicate that the specialization of the hot spot analysis is due to riding style preference rather than lack of wins.

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A Chi Squared statistical test of distribution frequency can be used to test this conjecture. If the two regions demonstrate different frequencies of riding style wins, then it may be concluded that the region is more specialized than the West Coast apart from any potential greater dispersion of wins across data points. One may infer that, were the

Northeast to win more often, the frequency distribution (i.e. specialization tendencies) of its riding styles would remain significantly different than that of the Southwest. To perform the Chi Squared test, the number of wins for each city in both regions was grouped into a frequency distribution table for each of the riding styles:

Table 2: Frequency distributions of specialization in the Northeast and Southwestern United States calculated from the show data in Microsoft Excel:

Using saddle seat as an example, this table shows that one city in the Northeast obtained eleven wins in saddle seat and two cities in the Southwest obtained eleven wins in saddle seat. The frequency for saddle seat in the Northeast for eleven wins is one and the frequency for saddle seat in the Southwest for eleven wins is two.

For this comparison, the Northeast saddle seat, western, and hunter frequency distributions were weighted, and then the Southwest frequency distributions for saddle seat, western and hunter were compared to the Northeast frequency distribution 60 respectively using the Chi Squared test in SPSS. In each comparison, the frequency distribution was found to be significantly different with a p value of less than .005 (See

Appendix E). This test confirms that the frequency of distributions in riding styles between the Northeast cities and the Southwest cities is significantly different.

Summary of Total Wins and Specialization Hot Spot Analysis

In considering the results for the total wins and specialization hot spot analysis, one may conclude that while the majority of the wins across the United States only rarely vary significantly from the average mean when standardized by population, the riding style specialization does vary regionally across the United States as demonstrated by the

Specialization Index hot spot analysis (standardized and un-standardized) and by the Chi

Squared statistical test.

Riding Style Preferences:

To determine the riding style biases across the United States, a comparison needed to be made between expected performance of each city in a particular riding style and the actual performance of that city in each riding style. This comparison was made by first determining the sum of wins for saddle seat, western and hunter and the total number of wins for the years from 1986-2008. Using Microsoft Excel these figures were then used to determine the number of expected wins for each riding style out of a total of one hundred wins.

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Table 3: Expected wins for each riding style calculated from the show data in Microsoft excel:

If a city obtained one hundred wins it would be expected that approximately fifty- nine of those wins would be saddle seat, approximately twenty five would be western and approximatly sixteen would be hunter. Next, the observed number of wins for each riding style was compared to the expected wins. For instance, the city of Monroe,

Washington obtained seven wins from 1986-2008. Four of those wins were in saddle seat classes, two were from western classes and one was hunter. Using the formula

(ridingstyle/totalcitywins)·100, it can be determined that, should Monroe Washington obtain one hundred wins, fifty- seven wins would be saddle seat, fourteen wins would be in western and twenty-nine wins would be in the hunt seat style. These numbers can then be compared to the expected values by subtracting the expected values from the actual values. One then sees that Monroe, Washington won fewer classes than expected out of its total wins in saddle seat and western, and that it performed stronger than expected in hunter. Therefore, it may be concluded that Monroe, Washington displays an above average ability to perform in hunter, and one may infer that the hunter style of riding is a prefered style of riding at the Monroe, Washington training facilities.

After determining the difference between the calculated and expected variables, the data table was entered into the ArcMap software. Using ArcMap’s Spatial Statistics

Toolbox, a hotspot analysis with rendering was conducted for each of the riding styles

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using the calc-expected variable field. The values for riding style preferences were not standardized by city population because the preference values are ratio data and the population values are discrete data lending a comparison between the two inappropriate.

The results are as follows:

Figure 22: Saddle seat riding hot spot analysis

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Figure 23: Western riding hot spot analysis

Figure 24: Hunter riding hot spot analysis

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Each of the riding styles demonstrates separate ‘hot spots’ or regions where they

are prefered. The Northeast states of Illinios, Indianna and Ohio constitute a region with

a strong emphasis on the saddle seat style of riding and a lack of interest in the hunter

style of riding. Eastern Texas shows a strong tendancy to prefer the western style of

riding as do areas of Western Illinois, Western Wisconson, Eastern Iowa, Eastern

Minnisota and Norhtern California. The hunter style of riding is prefered along the West

Coast. Virginia constitutes the only eastern state with an above average proclivity toward

the hunter riding style. This hot spot analysis reveals regional variation in the riding style

preferences. The final portion of the data analysis will compare the win, specialization,

and riding style hotspots.

Map Comparisons

The previous investigations exhibited regional variations in wins, specialization,

and riding style preference. To compare these results, significant values from each field

were selected in ArcMap7. A select-by-attribute command distinguished points with

standard deviations or z scores greater than one for total wins and specialization and

greater than two for saddle seat, western and hunter. The resulting exported shapefiles

contained the spatial information on above average total wins and specialization and above average preference for saddle seat, western and hunter riding styles. The following map portrays the results of the selection processes:

7 For this comparison figures nineteen and twenty-one of the total wins and specialization maps are used as they provide the data standardized by population 65

Figure 25: Summarization of the data analysis

This map exposes several clusters of riding style preferences which change from west to east across the country. The hunter style recieves its greatest acclaim along the west coast with two noticable clusters around the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.

The western style preference tends to occur in the middle of the country with a highly clustered area in Southeast Texas and another cluster along the borders of Iowa,

Minnesota, and Wisconson. With the exception of two points, preference for saddle seat is strongest in states east of the Mississippi River as demonstrated in four clusters: one cluster located in Central Tennessee, one along the Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio border (near

Cincinnati), another in Ohio (near Cleveland) and, finally, one in the New England states of , Connecticut and Rhode Island.

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Of particular interest is the preponderance of significantly specialized cities located in or near the regions of saddle seat preference clusters. The spatial proximity and clustering of the points indicates that not only is saddle seat the prefered riding style, but that the saddle seat propensity inclines towards an embracing of the style to the exclusion of other riding styles. This map seems to portray different approaches to horse showing. In the West, Southern California and Arizona diversify their riding style

approach and show high championship performance. The Northeastern states, which

appear to specialize more in the saddle seat style of riding also show high performance

results at Nationals. Both approaches seem legitimate for high production of national champions. This study identifies regions of riding style preferences and specialization.

Further investigation could highlight the relationship between specialization and the production of Arabian horse champions.

Each of the regions of riding style popularity presented in figure twenty-five, represent distinct areas in the United States with their own histories, economies and cultures. The results for riding style popularity are consistant with an understanding of the popular history and cultures of the United States. Chapter six will open a discussion on the possible implications of each riding style for the horse/handler relationship and how those implications might fit with an understanding of culture in the United States.

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Chapter Six: Discussion on Interpretive Value of Regional Results. One of the issues faced by sports geographers concerns the difficulty of

interpreting the importance of regional variations in sports. Sports geographers Bale and

MacGuire noted the gravity of interpretation for validating sports geography as a viable

field (Bale, 2003; Macguire, 1995). Macguire suggested using methods from social sciences such as anthropology, history or sociology to apply interpretive values

(Macguire, 1995). Instead of borrowing from other fields of social science, this paper

will use premises from sports geography to build a rational argument based on methods

of critical thinking and inductive reasoning in order to open a discussion on the

importance of the regional variations in riding styles for understanding cultural

perspectives on horsemanship and nature.

The dearth of articles published on horse sports denies the essential role that the

equine/ human relationship can play in fleshing out several concepts key to sports

geography and key to understanding man’s relationship to his environment. Two such

concepts will be considered in this research. One concept concerns the ideal that sports

offers to humankind, and the second concept concerns sports landscape.

Sports: Seeking the Ideal

In his book Take Time for Paradise, Giamatti (1989) contrasts work with leisure.

He notes that work is a requirement to obtain food and shelter and other necessities of

life, making work “at its heart a negotiation with death, a bargain made daily in a

thousand different ways until the strength to make the daily deal wanes, or the culture

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presses past one.” Giamatti defines the importance of leisure as a choice of how to

occupy free time. Giamatti notes:

Leisure, engaged in either as participant or as spectator (and there have always been both, each existing for the other in a mysterious bond of energy, resentment and awe), is that form of non-work activity felt to be chosen, not imposed. Leisure, therefore, is so important, as a concept, as an index to a cultures condition, because it is a form of freedom and is about making free choices (Giamatti, 1989, p. 21).

He notes that:

If work is a daily negotiation with death, leisure is the occasional transcendence of death. If the former is the strenuous avoidance of inertia, the latter is the active engagement of a moment of immortality (Giamatti, 1989, p. 22).

Key to Giamatti’s philosophy of sport are the notions of action, freedom, the seeking of immortality, coherence and community. Giamatti focuses on the restraint and discipline of the athlete which finally results in a mystical moment when he reaches his full potential and all that he strove for becomes natural and coherent (Giammati, 1989, p.

33). The community aspect arises as the spectators vicariously partake of this moment and enjoy it with the athlete and remember it in fondness together. The sporting event binds the spectators together whether their team wins or loses because all witness the event together (Giamatti, 1989, p. 32). Because of these factors, Giamatti claims sport is auto telic; that is:

Their goal is the full exercise of themselves, for their own sake, because in them a condition is achieved that is active, not idle; entertaining, not simply useful; perfecting of our humanity, not merely exploitative of it…the result is to be careless, or carefree. It is to be happy (Giamatti, 1989, p. 28).

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Numerous sports authors cite aspects of Giamatti’s argument in their attempts to

understand sports and the importance of sports to society. John Bale held that a society’s

participation in sports reflected the state of that society (Bale, 2003, p. 2). Michael

Murphy and Rhea A. White believe that sports participation could enhance “sensory motor, kinesthetic, communication, and cognitive abilities; sensations of pain and pleasure; vitality; volition, sense of self; love and various bodily structures” (Murphy,

1995, p. 5).

How men and women freely pursue their own happiness and at what cost to others certainly speaks for the state of the human race. Giammati and Macguire both note that the ideal which sports offers to its players and spectators may often become polluted by baser motives of commercialization, economic greed and undue desire for power and domination (Giammati, 1989, p. 104; Maguire, 1995, p.197). Some sports studies focus primarily on these baser manifestations of sports - emphasizing how sports demonstrate the domination of man over nature (Lawrence, 1982, p.134), man over woman

(Coackley, 2004) and, one race over another (Bale, 1996, p. 62) and may exist primarily to ‘domesticate’ its own people (Maguire, 1995, p.188). Much of sport demonstrates the conflict between the ideal and the potential debasement. This tension could be addressed in many ways, but this study will highlight the affection/domination conflict as particularly relevant in equine sports.

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Affection versus Domination The tension between affection and domination appears repeatedly in sports. John

Bale addresses this issue in man’s relationship to nature. He notes how on the one hand man attempts to eliminate the possible negative effects of nature by creating specialized landscapes for events such as track meets and ballparks. On the other hand, man loves nature and tries to recreate it in sports landscapes such as courses (Bale, 1996, p. 60).

Another example of the affection and domination tension is the relationship between coach and athlete. Coaches and owners sometimes manipulate athletes to go faster and farther and to perform to a greater extent than they would ever choose on their own; or, athletes are forced to press on farther than health would permit. This abuse by trainers and coaches noted by John Bale (1996) can rob the athlete of health and destroys

Giammati’s ideal of freedom and sport as a pursuit of happiness. In spite of this mistreatment, coaches or owners often care for and even love that which they mistreat

(Bale, 1996, p. 62).

Landscape as an indicator of the man/nature relationship The sports landscape proves crucial to the sports geographer. Sports should interest geographers because sport is essentially spatial (Bale, 2003, p.12). The sports landscape offers a visual portrayal of human’s relationship to nature. Bale, Eichberg and

Tuan identify two main types of sports landscapes – the natural (or pre-modern), and the modern (Bale, 1996, p. 72; Eichberg, 1998, p. 75; Tuan, 1984, p. 27). Natural landscapes include cross country courses or golf courses (even though man made). Such landscapes evoke a sense of freedom and escape (Eichberg, 1998, p. 75; Tuan, 1984, p. 27). Modern

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landscapes include stadiums and arenas which invoke a sense of control over the

environment (Eichberg, 1998, p. 75).

Sports geographers observe that geometry serves as a distinguishing factor

between the two landscape types. Bale and Echberg find that straightness, angularity and

hardness of lines characterize the modern landscape, whereas soft curves define the

natural landscape (Bale, 1996, 72; Eichberg, 1998, p 75). Eichberg notes that in modern

landscapes, “curved lines would be dysfunctional, a waste of space, time and

energy…even a crime against modernity” (Eichberg, 1998, p. 75). The modern landscape provides locations where nature is controlled, limited and isolated in order to maximize sport performance (Tuan, 1984, p. 40). Tuan notes that formal landscape reveals the human need to dominate (Tuan, 1984, p. 64). Cahoone claims the drive to dominate comes not from a hatred of nature but from a need to civilize it (Cahoone, 1988, p. 4). Thus the sports landscape embodies the domination/affection tension. Tuan finds that sports landscapes reveal a continuum from a softer form of power (that is affection)

“…which, I believe, is often (though far from always) reflected in the landscape of sport…to those [landscapes] where the power relation is one of true dominance” (Tuan,

1984, p. 44).

Concepts of Sports Geography and Equines

Horse sports can provide significant insight into the key principles

presented in sports geography including concepts of the ideal versus the profane, of

affection versus domination, and natural versus modern landscapes as indicators of man’s

influence over nature.

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Dominance and Affection Revisited

The horse/ human relationship epitomizes humankinds’ conflicted affair with nature. Lawrence writes:

…the horse is an archetypal symbol of man’s conquering force. The conquest of the animal itself represents the conquest of nature, and it is not difficult to understand why the figure of a man on a horse has throughout history been a sign of conquest. Power and aggressive force have always been associated with the mounted man…Implicit in the horse-rider relationship is the fact that the rider has already mastered the horse, and his dominance over the animal may be seen as setting the stage for further conquest (Lawrence, 1982).

Some deep ecologists would prefer to eliminate this picture of domination and oppose all use of horses as mounts (Bale, 1996, p. 40). Authors such as Tuan, who see the affection/domination relationship on a continuum, see possible positive results from such an interaction even though the union always involves an exertion of power on the part of the handler. Tuan writes:

Domination may be cruel and exploitive, with no hindrance of affection in it. What is produced is the victim. On the other hand, dominance may be combined with affection, and what it produces is the pet or garden, nature being viewed as a well-loved servant, animal or landscape (Tuan, 1984, p.5).

Sadly, one cannot simply take a survey of the opinion of the horses on the matter.

If only the horses had a voice, one could ascertain whether or not they find an association with humankind beneficial. Then again, maybe it is possible to hear their voice. Those who work with horses might be able to discern their opinions if they choose to listen.

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Dominance and Affection in Training the Horse

The training of horses reflects a wide range of balance between the affection/domination tensions. Past training methods demonstrate more of an emphasis on dominance, whereas present training methods tend to emphasize affection. A recent analysis of current trends in horsemanship finds that more horsemen and women seek to consider the physical and psychological well-being of their animals in care and training

(Skipper, 2007, p. 9). The twenty-first century finds more trainers with the understanding that fulfilling the horses social, psychological and emotional needs corrects bad behavior once considered normal (Skipper, 2007, p. 11). World renowned trainers such as Monty

Roberts and John Lyons encourage students to work with the horse instead of against the horse and to ask “will you?” instead of giving the demand “you must” (Roberts, 2008, p.

14). Skipper notes that “horses like humans, refuse to conform to rigid ideas on how they should behave and how they should react to specific situations (Skipper, 2007, p. 25).

Older methods of training involved invoking the idea of “showing the horse who’s boss,” and might employ the brutal implementation of whips, spurs and ropes which evoked terror and ‘submission’ in the horse (Roberts, 2008, p. 28). One can still witness both approaches to horse training in the United States but, thankfully, the move is toward a more affectionate approach to training.

Monty Roberts claims that “A good trainer can hear a horse speak to him. A good trainer can hear a horse whisper” (Roberts, 2008, p. 46). Roberts invested a significant amount of time and energy into learning the language of the horse - body language - so that he could communicate with the horse and meet its needs. He now travels the world sharing his insights with horsemen and women around the globe. Those who learn to

74 master the skills presented by trainers such as Roberts discover that their horses can happily accomplish almost any task presented when provided the proper time and patience. Under such circumstances, one finds that many horses prefer human friendship.

Roberts made the ultimate test when he released a mustang that he had formally caught back into the wild. The horse initially ran from Roberts to greet its former herd.

However, the horse eventually returned to Roberts voluntarily and refused to leave his side again.

I propose that, when training occurs properly, horse and rider can both experience

Giamatti’s ideals together - that horse sport provides a unique opportunity to experience the action, freedom and coherence presented by Giamatti. The difference between horse sport and other sports is that part of the ‘community’ involved is of a different species – the horse. In its beauty, magnificence and power, the intelligent horse magnifies the ideals presented by Giamatti. Obtaining a strong relationship requires a great amount of skill, patience, and the ability to connect with the horse. In the hurry to produce the desired performance, it is easy to shortcut the relationship. It is difficult enough to learn to ride without learning to ‘listen’ to the horse. Many trainers believe in a God-given right to dominate the horse (Skipper, 2007, p. 29). It can be extremely frustrating to try and figure out why the animal will not cooperate. However, if one seeks to understand and has the patience to learn, then nothing compares to the sight of the horse running across the pasture with a welcome neigh in anticipation of a ride with its handler.

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Dominance and Affection in the Show Ring

Horse shows provide an outlet for horse lovers to combine a love of animals with

the discipline and thrill of sports. At its best, showing encourages the perfecting of the physical and relational skill between horse and rider that is necessary to produce top

quality performance. Nothing surpasses the thrill of horse and rider moving in perfect

unison, melded together as one, experiencing life, power and freedom of movement as

they produce a perfect picture before the judges. Winning the blue ribbon in such

instances is an apex and affirmation of the athletic accomplishment of two partners

working together.

In addition to time in the show ring with the horse, many horsemen and women

find that horse shows provide excellent opportunities to spend quality time with family

and friends (Walters, 2009). Parents and trainers believe showing horses can provide

children with the opportunity to learn discipline, responsibility and self-control

(Livingston, 2009).

Sadly, as with all competition, the temptation arises to focus more on the outcome

of the judge’s circle than on the ideal that the outcome should represent. Burt notes that

“The ability to train the horse is limited only by the lack of knowledge, time and desire.

There is no magic secret” (Burt, 1990, p. xi). Regrettably, some owners and trainers do

not possess the correct knowledge, or they lack the time and desire to train their horses in

the most beneficial manner. Tester notes that the tendency with animals in sports is to

reduce them to a means, and therefore to deny them the value they possess (Tester, 1991,

p.10). This denial of the animal’s value as a living being has, at times, resulted in great

pain and cruelty to the animal. Trainers may attempt to take shortcuts in the horse’s

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training to try and force the animal into the proper frame that they perceive the judges

desire. Artificial devices uncomfortable or even painful to the horse may be employed to

quickly produce the desired outcome, where strength training and discipline combined

with time could achieve a better result. A prime example of the use of an artificial device

would be the ‘soaring’ used on the Tennessee Walking horse to make the horse step

higher than natural for the show ring. This practice involved applying chemicals to the

bottoms of the horse’s hooves to make it painful for the horse to put weight on its feet.

This particular practice was banned by the 1970 Horse Protection Act, but other methods

used to increase a horse’s performance remain questionable such as the use of harsh bits,

pads under the horse’s hooves, and inappropriate use of whips and spurs. The Arabian

Horse Association, by regulating the use of artificial devices in the show ring,

discourages the abuse of horses by such training methods. In spite of efforts to reduce the

mistreatment of show horses, Hoberman notes that “A major activity of animal rights

organizations is their opposition to various forms of cruelty in animal sports” (Hoberman,

1992, p. 280).

Even without the use of artificial devices, the show circuit can take an enormous psychological toll on the horse. Skippers notes several stress factors common to show horses including: overtraining before a competition, too high frequency of competition, failure in the competition, bad travel experience and unrealistic demands placed upon the horse. The possibility always exists that competition lust will blind the horse’s caregiver to the mental and emotional toll that showing can place upon the horse. Skipper states

that:

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…the fact that a situation causes stress is not in itself cause for alarm. Like humans, most horses that are otherwise in good health appear to be quite capable of dealing with moderate amounts of short-term stress. It is when stress becomes severe and/or prolonged that both physical and mental health becomes compromised (Skipper, 2007, p. 24).

I have witnessed the development of behavioral problems in several horses soured by the severe mental strain placed upon them in the show ring. Such behavioral problems include an unwillingness to load into the horse trailer, refusal to enter the show ring and nervous pacing and excessive sweating at the show grounds. Roberts calls destroying the willingness of the horse, “a crazy unforgiveable act” (Roberts, 2008, p.

40). Skipper, Burt and Roberts would blame such behavioral ‘problems’ on poor training practices and the failure of the handler to meet the horse’s basic emotional and mental needs. Stress can also trigger physical ailments such as lameness, sickness, colic and even death.

Show horses often experience different living conditions than non-show horses.

Many remain in stalls for extended periods of time with little or no social contact with other horses and unable to move except in small circles for exercise. Such confinement can result in depression, psychological and social disorders, and respiratory ailments

(Skipper, 2007, p. 29; Pickrell, p. 32)

Also, the danger always remains that an owner or trainer caught up in the throes of the competition will require that the horse perform outside of its capacity, or in such a way that will harm the horse’s health.

Tuan finds that even in abuse handlers love their animals. The conflict between love and abuse illustrates the two-sidedness of the dominance and affection tension

(Tuan, 1984, p. 62). Tuan states that:

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The resolution of the tension between sport and human power relations is not likely to be solved easily. Power over plants and animals is inevitable, simply to survive. In the modern world people do not regularly view themselves as part of nature and there is too much investment in sport for big business to easily let go (Tuan, 1984, p.176).

Horses and Sports Landscapes

Horse sports can occur across the spectrum of natural and modern sports

landscapes. and eventing take place in more natural settings. The majority of horse competitions transpire in an arena which constitutes a modern sports landscape because it limits the competition area and creates an environment sterilized against nature’s inconvenience such as uneven footing (Eichberg, 1998, p. 75).

According to John Bale, animals themselves constitute a long recognized part of

the sports landscape (Bale, 1996, p. 61). As a portion of this landscape, horses play a

critical role in manifesting part of humankind’s relationship to nature. This researcher

proposes that the three riding styles presented bring separate and unique ‘landscapes’ to

the show ring and sports geography. Here the criteria established for analyzing

humankind’s relationship to the environment as witnessed in sports landscapes will be

applied to saddle seat, western and hunter riding styles.

Saddle Seat Revisited

As previously noted, saddle seat is currently the most popular style of riding in

the Arabian show circuit. The popularity has resulted in a trend for more motion and

greater action in show horses. Gordan Walters (2009) observes that today’s english pleasure classes look like yesterday’s park class, and the country english pleasure classes

79 have the motion of yesterday’s english pleasure classes. Ann Quinn (2010) stated that all the horses, even the hunter horses, have more action today than in the past. Obenland approves of the increased action and attributes it to better breeding (Obenland 1991, p. x).

Of the three styles investigated, saddle seat proves the most controversial. Burt, an Arabian horse show judge, notes that park classes are the most popular and the most controversial (Burt, 1990, p. 94). The controversy revolves around the movement the horse is required to exhibit in the show ring. Even though horses that perform in saddle seat must have a natural ability to move in the required manner, sustaining such movement demands that the trainer ask far more both mentally and physically from the horse than the other riding styles. In an interview with Gordan Walters (2009), he simply stated that “some of the things they encourage an English horse to do we prefer not to do.

We prefer a more relaxed horse to an animated horse.” Burt found that sometimes the riders in saddle seat classes would “…ask for more and more (action, and animation), instead of simply steadying the horse. As the horse tires or runs out of gas (air usually), he needs to be steadied, not crowded (Burt, 1990, p. 99). Burt also noted that the saddle seat horses often are abused in the mouth resulting in errors in their performance (Burt,

1990, p. 97). Ann Quinn (2010), when interviewed, stated that she refused to train saddle seat since, in her experience, more injuries occur with saddle seat riding than other forms of riding. She notes that, “when your horse is always returning lame from a show you know something is wrong.”

Proponents of saddle seat love the style for its sharp appearance and class.

Advocates recognize the importance of choosing the right horse for the style (Obenland,

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1993). They recognize that some horses are built for saddle seat with high neck carriages and an uphill build, while others are not (Obenland, 1993).

Whether a fan or not, all recognize that saddle seat requires a more specialized horse with more specialized training. The knowledge and skill required to properly train a saddle seat horse reduces the flexibility to make training mistakes. Those who try to take shortcuts with saddle seat training will quickly create an unhappy or unhealthy horse. Viewing the saddle seat style from the perspective of sports landscapes, one finds that the saddle seat frame produces sharper lines and angles than the other riding styles.

For instance, the high lift of the horse’s front legs creates a sharp angle between the horses’ chest and its hooves. The high head carriage creates a sharp angle between the horse’s back and withers and the horse’s neck. The lines from the base of the neck to the pole and from the shoulder to the hoof constitute relatively straight lines. The horse’s back and underline appear straight and the horse’s hocks appear well underneath it, creating a sharp straight hind quarter profile.

Figure 26: Arabian park horse interpreted as sports landscape Photo taken from www.smokeymountainparkarabians.com

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The horse’s frame paints a clear, impressive and classy picture. One english

pleasure trainer stated that the english pleasure horse performs similar to a dressage or

hunter horse, but with more class and more style.

Western Pleasure Revisited

Western pleasure classes tend to be larger than the saddle seat classes. Gordan

Walters (2009) notes that the trend in western classes is for the horse to become more round and collected. In the past, western horses traveled with a line from their pole to

nose vertical to the ground. Currently, the horses have appeared in the show ring with

nose tucked towards the chest creating a sharp angle from the pole to the nose. Other

than the line from pole to nose, the western horse is trained to move in a round frame.

Figure 27: Arabian western pleasure horse interpreted as sports landscape Image used with permission from Ann Quinn

It should also be noted that western horses travel at a particularly slow speed

which is used only by show horses.

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Hunter Pleasure Revisited

Figure 28: Arabian hunter horse interpreted as sports landscape Photo taken from www.horsegroomingsupplies.com

Hunter classes began at the U.S. Nationals in the 1980s. According to Gordan

Walters (2009), the hunter classes provide an opportunity to show outside of the saddle seat frame. “Hunter pleasure is popular because the average person can train and ride a hunter pleasure horse on their own” (Walters, 2009). Hunters move in a rounded frame, but not overly rounded so as to create sharp angles (although more collection is becoming popular). Ann Quinn teaches that, of the three styles, hunter is the most forgiving for the horse both physically and mentally because of the natural frame and gaits.

Riding Styles Analysis

Applying the principles of landscape given by Bale, Eichberg and Tuan to the

riding style frames presented permits one to draw certain conclusions regarding those

riding styles. If one accepts the concepts presented by the sports geographers, then one

would conclude that straightness and angles indicate modernization which subsequently

83 indicates a dominating influence of man over nature. One could then conclude that on the domination/affection scale, saddle seat ranks highest toward a domination tendency, followed by western pleasure and then hunter pleasure. It is important to note that dominance is not the opposite of affection (Tuan, 1984, p. 44), and that dominance is not always considered unethical (Bale, 1996, p. 61). More dominance, however, is more likely to produce a victim (Tuan, 1984, p.5). Therefore, those who love saddle seat and the pomp and flare of the style must take great care to ensure that the horses they love do not become abused by passion for show.

This chapter has presented an argument using inductive reasoning that the saddle seat style of riding tends toward a more dominant approach to horsemanship which results in a greater likelihood to make a victim of the horse. Further field studies could investigate the veracity of this argument and the premises of modernization and domination proffered in sports geography.

My own personal experience supports this argument as does the hesitancy of some horsemen and woman to condone or participate in saddle seat (Burt, 1990; Quinn,

2010; Walters, 2009). The results of this study and the premises presented in sports geography call for further analysis of this issue. The Arabian Horse Association might be well served to promote research on this topic and could encourage education on correct and humane practices of training and showing for saddle seat horses.

The Arabian horse has been loved throughout the ages for its beauty, vibrancy and intelligence. The show ring provides a place for the horse to shine in its glory.

Horsemen and women need to consider the health of the heart and soul of a loved animal as well as its stunning physical beauty when attempting to present it at its best.

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Comparison of Discussion Results with Hot Spot Analysis

The results of the discussion suggest that areas of strong saddle seat performance tend to take a more dominant viewpoint on the horse/handler relationship. Authors such as Lawrence, Tuan and Bale suggest that humankind’s relationship with the horse reflects man’s tendency to dominate nature. One might then expect cultural viewpoints toward nature in regions of high saddle seat performance to tend toward the domination side of the domination versus affection tension relative to regions with less specialization in the saddle seat style of riding. Based on colloquial understandings of cultural variations in the United States, one finds that areas of strong saddle seat preference and specialization do occur in regions renowned for more formal culture (the Eastern Sea Board) or areas with strong farming influence (Illinois and Ohio for instance). Both a formal approach to nature and the need to cultivate the land indicate a modernized or dominating viewpoint toward nature. The West Coast, known for its casual culture and friendly environmental policies, shows diversity in riding style preferences and accepts the more casual hunt seat riding style. The popularity of the western style of riding in Texas may be attributed to the history of the state and the development of the riding style in the region for the purpose of the nineteenth century cattlemen.

Observation of the results presented in chapter five along with a consideration of the discussion in chapter six can lead one to conclude that the regions of riding style popularity appear consistent with overarching regional understandings of nature and the environment. Further studies are needed to validate this concept.

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Chapter Seven: Results

This chapter will rexamine the hypotheses presented in chapter four in light of the data analysis and discussion presented thus far.

H1 There are areas in the United States where one or more of the riding styles is more popular than the other riding styles.

The hot spot analyses performed indicate a regional dimension to each of the riding style preferences. Therefore, hypothesis one is confirmed.

H2 There are areas in the United States which tend to specialize in one of the riding styles (saddle seat, western and hunt seat) to the exclusion of the other two styles of riding.

The results of the hot spot analysis indicate that the northeastern region of the United

States tends to specialize in the saddle seat style of riding to the exclusion of the western and hunt seat riding styles. Therefore hypothesis two is validated.

This paper addresses the regional dimensions of riding style performance and preference across the United States. The hot spot analyses indicated regions of high popularity of the saddle seat, western and hunter riding styles. Chapter six opens a discussion for the potential importance of the riding styles as indicators of the horse/handler relationship and humankind’s cultural perspectives on nature. Further field research might help scholars, and horse lovers to better understand the validity of the arguments and concepts presented in chapter six. Understanding the horse/handler

86 relationship and the importance of the way horsemen and women choose to ride and handler their horses as an indicator of an overarching viewpoint toward horses and nature in general could prove helpful in attempts to progress towards more humane standards of interacting with horses and the environment.

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Chapter Eight: Conclusions

This research used data provided by the Arabian Horse Association to identify and map regions of high Arabian horse show performance, specialization and preference for the three riding styles saddle seat, western and hunter. Having identified significant regions of riding style preference and specialization, concepts from sports geography were used to open a discussion on the implications of riding style preferences to horse/human relationships and cultural understandings of nature and the environment

Hypotheses Revisited

Of the two hypotheses proposed for this study, both were supported by the research:

• The popularity of each riding style displays spatial variation and clustering across

the United States.

• Some cities tended to specialize in the saddle seat riding style to the exclusion of

the western and hunt seat riding style.

Future Research

Several of the concepts presented in this research warrant further investigation.

The sports geography literature indicates that the saddle seat riding style lends itself towards a more dominant relationship of handler to horse. Further studies detailing the care of saddle seat horses, their training, and the proper or abusive implementation of the riding style could aid in further understanding the validity of the arguments presented in chapter six and the veracity of the premises found in the sports geography literature.

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The correlation between riding style preference and cultural views on

human/horse relationships could be further analyzed by conducting surveys the regions

where strong riding style preferences were exhibited in this research.

The question of the relationship between specialization and riding style

performance demands further analysis. This paper could not clarify the nature of

diversity - whether or not diversity indicates that a horse performs in more than one style,

or that riders perform in multiple styles. The question demands further investigation both

because the Arabian horse has long been valued for its versatility and because

specialization is becoming more popular in the Arabian horse show circuit.

Further investigation of these questions could aid in understanding how to protect

horses from becoming victims of domination when handlers forget the wellbeing of their

animals in pursuit of glory and fame. It might also help in maximizing the show potential

of the Arabian horse and shed light on how to encourage a mutually beneficial

relationship for horse and handler.

The legacy of beauty, intelligence and friendship offered by the Arabian

horse demands careful care and protection. Decisions based upon sound information and proper analysis can aid in preserving the valuable heritage found in the Arabian horse.

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Interviews Livingston, Linda. Show Mom from 1991 – 2002. Xenia, Ohio; July 2009 Quinn, Ann. Arabian horse trainer. Bakersfield, CA; July 2010 Walters, Gordon. Judge for Arabian horse United States National Championships, Canadian National Championships, Brazil National Championships and Israel National Championships. Bakersfield, CA; July 2009

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Appendix A: Arabian Horse Association Regional Divisions

Appendix B: Scatter Plot of Winning Cities

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Appendix C: Descriptive Statistics for Winning Cities

Statistics from before the removal of the top twenty cities

Statistics from after the removal of the stop twenty cities

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Appendix D: Top Twenty Cities of Arabian Horse Champion Production

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Appendix E: Comparison of Distance Parameters for Hot Spot Analysis

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Appendix F: Chi Squared Statistic for Frequency Distribution

HSWfreq Observed N Expected N Residual 2 1 4.5 -3.5 3 1 4.5 -3.5 4 2 4.5 -2.5 7 1 4.5 -3.5 14 5 4.5 .5 22 17 4.5 12.5 Total 27

Test Statistics HSWfreq Chi-square 44.333a df 5 Asymp. Sig. .000 a. 6 cells (100.0%) have expected frequencies less than 5. The minimum expected cell frequency is 4.5.

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